My one word for 2016 is Gratitude!
This is a sponsored post.
In early 2015 I decided to create a new habit of thinking of at least 5 things I was grateful for, twice a day, every day. What I have found is that it changed my attitude; I stopped worrying about things and started to see how much I had to be grateful for in my life. I also found the more grateful I am the more things are brought into my life for me to be grateful for. Anytime I get frustrated if I can’t let it go I stop and think of at least 5 things I am grateful for. Why is that important? Because you can’t be sad, mad, annoyed etc. and happy at the same time. It also helps you to let go of the frustration of a situation you can’t change. Let’s face it, who wouldn’t prefer to be happy vs annoyed or mad?
Carving out the time to consciously focus on gratitude was the hardest part, if I tried to do it first thing in the morning I found I was rushing it because I had to get ready for work, if I waited until bedtime half the time I would fall asleep before I finished. For me, the best times to do this were during the two walks a day I take with my dog. Now I find myself being grateful off and on all day long, without consciously trying to think of things to be grateful for. This doesn’t mean annoying things have stopped happening to me, however they are less frequent then before. Now anytime something happens that I’m not thrilled with I think of it as an opportunity to deal with it in a more positive way. Your mindset is the only thing you can change in some circumstances. Trust me there were situations I wasn’t happy with and had to think of 5 things to be grateful for multiple times before I could let the frustration go.
In early December I started to think of some goals I wanted to make for 2016, my biggest goal is to continue my daily gratitude, another goal is to get back to growing a small vegetable and herb garden and to have fresh flowers in the house as often as possible. My hydrangea & lilac plants didn’t do well in 2015 and I missed having fresh flowers in the house all spring/summer. A few days after thinking of these goals, Brett from FTD Flowers sent me an emailing to see if they could send me a bouquet of flowers to welcome in the 2016 New Year; their goal is to spread positivity in 2016! Amazing right? I of course said Yes! The hardest part was choosing a bouquet as there were so many that I absolutely loved! Here are just a few of their arrangements that I love.
My favorite flowers are, white, purple and yellow Tulips (I can’t wait to see them popping up in my yard every spring), White, Ivory or any shade of pink Roses, Hydrangeas, Lilacs, Hyacinth, Peony and Calla Lilies. The bouquet I ended up choosing is called Superior Sights. It is a beautiful arrangement of Hydrangeas and Roses, I love the combination of these two flowers together. The funny thing is, after I chose this bouquet I thought it would be fun to look up the symbolism of these two specific flowers. Guess what Hydrangea represents? If you guessed Gratitude you would be correct! Amazing since my biggest goal for 2016 is to continue my daily gratitude and to welcome in more things to be grateful for this year. Roses not only represent love but white roses represent new beginnings! I’d say these are the perfect flowers to start my New Year off with wouldn’t you?
My hope for all of you reading this is for you to find as many things you can to be grateful for this Year. I hope 2016 is filled with wonderful surprises of positive things to bring into your life! I’m so grateful FTD Flowers reached out to me to be a part of their positivity in 2016 campaign, Thank You! #FTDFlowers
Some people find it easier to do their daily gratitude by writing it down, I created two printables for this reason you can download them below:
Top 10 things you are grateful for (use this one at the end of the year!)
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